Forest of Fate
by Camotaru
Summary: Nathan had always loved trees. He didn't know why, but the feeling of being sheltered in the branches of one—just hidden in the leaves—made him safer than he ever felt at home, even in his mother's arms. Reincarnation fic
1. Chapter 1: Nathan

**Forest of Fate**

Nathan had always loved trees.

He didn't know why, but the feeling of being sheltered in the branches of one—just hidden in the leaves—made him safer than he ever felt at home, even in his mother's arms. He was an agile and skilled climber, so he had no problem getting his way to the top of almost every tree he set his eyes on. He was only eight years old, but Nathan knew exactly what he was going to do in life.

"When I grow up, I'm gonna build a giant tree house, and everyone in the whole, wide world will come and live in it, and the they'll make me leader and I'll protect them and stuff!"

He had no idea what he was going to protect them _from_, but he was going to protect them, and that was that.

* * *

"NATHAN! Get back here this instant, young man!" The angered shout rang throughout the small village at the edge of the woods.

"And get in trouble?! No way, you'll have to catch me yourself, or I'll run away and never come back!" A boyish voice called back. Nobody stopped in their work to stare. This had happened far too often to be of any surprise to anyone. They all knew he would run off into the forest for a couple hours to cool off, before trotting obediently back home, having been placated by his beloved trees.

Sure enough, the boy turned tail and darted towards the forest, ducking under the shrubbery and disappearing from sight with barely a rustle of leaves.

His mother shook her head, exasperated, and headed back home. She knew her son would be back by dinnertime, as he always was, but that didn't mean he was getting out of his punishment.

* * *

Deep in the forest—_his_ forest, Nathan thought proudly, the boy raced among the shady trees, expertly dodging the foliage, until he arrived at his secret grove. Flopping down happily on a fallen log, they boy absentmindedly pushed his blond bangs out of his eyes and settled down for a quick rest.

Nothing ever dared to hurt him in _his _forest.

Blue eyes snapped open at the sound of a pained cry.

Somebody was hurt!

Leaping up from the log, Nathan sprinted in the direction the voice had come from. After a few sharp twists and turns, he scaled a small rock a found...

A boy, gripping his ankle in white-knuckled hands with a decidedly constipated look on his face.

Was he hurt? Did he need Nathans help? If he was going to protect a whole world of people someday, Nathan thought resolutely, than he'd better start by helping this poor, innocent—

"What are you doing, idiot?!"

Scratch that.

"Well _excuse me _for trying to help out some hurt little boy who was trespassing in _my _forest!"

"_You're _forest?! Who died and made you king? Besides, I 'm not little. I'm bigger than you!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are not!"

"Are too— wait, wait, no! I take it back!"

"Too late, you already said it!"

"That doesn't count!"

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

"Does—oh, for crying out loud, we sound like a couple of babies. How about this: how old are you?"

"I'm eight!"

"Hah! I'm nine! Take that!"

"What?! You liar, I'll bet you're actually seven! I'll bet you—" Suddenly, Nathan broke off as a scream echoed though the woods. Nathan froze, but the other boy immediately sprang into action, racing off towards the scream.

Without even knowing why, the blond-haired boy chased the black-haired boy.

_**And the wheel of fate began to turn.**_


	2. Chapter 2: Meetings

**Forest of Fate**

_Chapter 2: Meetings_

Nathan nearly crashed into the other boy when he skidded to an abrupt stop at the edge of a grove of trees. He followed the boy's stunned gaze up to a tall spruce, where his damsel in distress awaited with fearful eyes aimed at the menacing wolf circling below—

"WHO DO YA THINK YOU ARE, YA MANGY FLEABAG?! I'LL TEAR YA APART, YA HEAR ME?!"

—and Nathan's damsel in distress obviously didn't need help. Whoops. Nathan was broken out of his gawking when he shifted slightly and stepped on a dried leaf. The wolf's heads snapped around to fixate on the two boys. Finding them decidedly easier targets than the violent girl above, the canine lunged at the children, taking them by surprise.

"Idiot!" the black-haired boy hissed at Nathan as he tackled him to the ground, "Don't just stand there; move!"

A pine cone suddenly flew through the air and smacked the wolf on the snout. Yelping in surprise, it stumbled back, giving the boys a chance to scramble out of the way. The girl in the tree gestured at them wildly to join her before it shook off its confusion.

He had just reached the girl's branch when a startled cry sounded from below him. He glanced down to find that the wolf had gripped the other boy's foot in his mouth. It was the one he had hurt, too!

The boy was gasping in pain and fear, his hands flailing as he tried to find a grip. He was too far down though, and Nathan couldn't reach him. The girl started to gather more pine cones, but Nathan knew what he had to do.

With a loud battle cry, he sprang off the branch and landed on the wolf, clutching on to the fur as tight as he could. The wolf released its grip on the other boy's leg and proceeded to try and dislodge the blond from its back.

Nathan cried out as he was flung to the ground. The wolf didn't give him any time to recover before it pounced on him, sinking its fangs into his forearm.

Nathan screamed as white stars exploded in his vision.

* * *

The next thing he was aware of was the panicked voices above him.

"—get a _real_ doctor or something!"

"I don't have a phone, do you?! I don't even know where we are!"

"I'm nine! Of course I don't have a phone! And if I knew where we were, I wouldn't have asked you for help!"

Nathan didn't like it when they fought. It was making his head hurt almost as much as his arm. He groaned.

"Hey! He's waking up! Are you alright, kid? And, uh, what's your name?"

He slowly opened his eyes to find the dark-haired boy from earlier on his right, his equally dark eyes widened in worry. To his left he saw the girl. She had pale blonde hair with the tips dyed a hot pink, and her eyes—

"Your eyes are—they're _really _green. Like, _really _green. Like. . . a cherry blossom! Pretty. . ."

"Is he— does he have concussion or something? Since when are cherry blossoms green?"

Suddenly, Nathan remembered the girls question from earlier.

"Nathan," he replied.

"Uh, what?" she scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion.

"My name. Nathan."

"Oh. My name's Samantha. Nice to to, uh, meet you. Thanks for trying to save me, I guess. Do you know where we are?"

"Of course! We're in my forest!" Nathan grinned. Were they asking for his help?

The black-haired boy rolled his eyes. "We know that, stupid. We mean _where_ in the forest. My name's Spencer, by the way."

Nathan stuck his tongue out and crossed his arms sullenly. And that's when he noticed it.

"Wh—Wha?! My arm barely hurts anymore! It only tingles!" he exclaimed in shock.

Samantha grinned. "My aunt's a herbalist, so I'm super good at making poultices!"

Spencer raised an eyebrow. "And yet, you don't have a phone."

"Well, you don't either!" she huffed.

Nathan drifted off to sleep to the somehow comforting sounds of their banter.

_**And the continuous motion of the wheel propelled fate onwards.**_


	3. Chapter 3: Kakashi

**Forest of Fate**

_Chapter 3: Kakashi_

Nathan woke to an angry scream.

_This is kinda getting old, _he thought to himself, before his brain registered the sound and he abruptly shot to his feet. He was still in the forest, in the clearing where they had fought the wolf. In front of him lay Samantha and Spencer, both waking up in confusion and alarm. Samantha blinked at him, then grinned.

"Hey! You're awake!" she exclaimed happily, "You fainted and we couldn't get you up."

Spencer grimaced. "Oh. Great. You're up. Was that scream in my dream or do we have to save _another_ little girl?"

Nathan glared at him. The jerk! "Why do you have to be so mean?! We're the protectors of this forest! It's our job to save people!"

The dark-haired boy raised an eyebrow. "Protectors? Job? We literally just met yesterday and got lost in a forest together! What are you, delusional?"

Nathan hesitated with a pensive look on his face. "Uh... what's delusional mean?"

Spencer groaned. "See, this is what I mean! You're a complete idiot!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"SHUT UP!"

The boys gulped and glanced at Samantha warily.

"We're going over to investigate that scream, am I clear?"

"Y—yes, ma'am."

"W—whatever."

* * *

The three children didn't have to go that far to find the source of the scream.

It wasn't another kid this time, though.

Nathan watched, wide-eyed, as two really buff men beat down on a another man.

It was horrifying, but he couldn't tear his eyes away.

The two bigger men were shouting incomprehensibly, rage-filled words flying out of their mouths in a different language. The smaller man was tied to a stake, but even though they were merciless, his single eye was determined and he didn't make a sound.

Nathan, Spencer, and Samantha couldn't move.

"W-what are they saying?" Samantha whispered shakily, "Who a-are those people?"

"'You killed us.'" spoke Spencer quietly, "'You murdered us, Kakashi of the Sharingan.'"

The other two spun to look at him in shock. Spencer was biting his lip with his hands clenched in white-knuckled grips at his sides.

"My dad is Japanese," he explained shortly, "so I can sort of understand it."

"Does that mean... that guy, Kakashi of the Sharingan? Did he... how could he have killed them? They're still alive, right? Did he, like, try to kill them, maybe?" Nathan mumbled to himself. He didn't like this. That guy... he didn't feel like a murderer. Something was off.

Samantha seemed to agree, "Are you sure, Spencer? That doesn't seem right. That guy wouldn't murder people for no reason. Or try to, I guess."

"How do you know? Do you know him? He could be a serial killer, for all we know." But Spencer didn't sound convinced, only slightly distracted. He picked up a stone from the ground and weighed it in his hand pensively.

Samantha was quick to catch on. "Spencer, _no_!" she hissed urgently, but Spencer didn't listen.

Nathan quietly picked up a nearby pine cone.

Spencer threw the stone at the bigger of the two men. It whizzed through the air like an arrow.

_Like a kunai, _Nathan's mind provided. _What? _He thought. What was a "kunai"?

He was pulled out of his thoughts when the stone hit the man in the face, knocking him out cleanly.

The other man abruptly stopped shouting, his face contorting in alarm and fear, while the smaller man (_Kakashi_, Nathan reminded himself) 's head shot up, eye alert and wary.

There was a pause.

Then everything happened at once.

Kakashi took the opportunity to launch himself upwards, catching his abuser by surprise when he body slammed into him.

Spencer and Nathan charged out of the forest, uttering wild battle cries.

And Samantha could do nothing but drop to her knees, ashamed of the crippling cowardice that rendered her unable to join them.

_**And the wheel of fate spun faster and faster with no sign of stopping.**_


End file.
